“The number of cases in India has been going up by an average of a third per week, so probably the doubling time of the epidemic in India is about three weeks at this stage. So the direction of travel of the epidemic is not exponential, but it is still growing,” he said.

Ryan said the measures taken in India “certainly had an impact in dampening transmission, and as India, as in other large countries open up and as people begin to move again, there’s always a risk of the disease bouncing back up.”

“I think the important thing is to really keep track of the the growth rate, the doubling time of the virus and make sure that that doesn’t get worse,” said WHO‘s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan.

As India is a “heterogeneous and huge country with very densely populated cities,” Swaminathan said it’s important to wear face coverings.

“PEPSA designated places where refuse will be dumped and where the trucks can pick it, but people have nelected the areas. They throw their waste at every corner. This is very worrisome.

“Some people even throw waste into rivers making it impossible to evacuate such dirt.

“Some areas are not motorable because of indiscriminate erection of buildings, but people in those houses feel they can dump their waste at their door step, ignoring the designated areas. The evacuators cannot go door to door,” he said.

The commissioner said that the waste plant at Mistali in Bassa Local Government would soon take off, and expressed optimism that the gesture would increase the number of waste collectors and create employment opportunities.

He said that as part of efforts to preserve the environment and discourage tree felling, the state distributed gas cylinders and stoves provided by the federal Government to communities close to the forest reserves across its 17 local governments.

Manjang said this in an interview with newsmen in Jos on Friday in the wake of perceptions among residents of the state that the lockdown was needless since there were normal movements of people for four days in a week.

He said the partial lockdown had curtailed the number of infected people from escalating as compared to other states which did not have lockdown imposed on them.

“I can tell you that the lockdown has been very effective as far as government is concerned.

“We have cases in other places where there is no lockdown and they have been recording alarming numbers.

“Who knows what would be happening in Plateau if we did not take the right steps; the number may have been more than what we are seeing today,” he said.

On the rumours that the government would totally lift the lockdown in the state, Manjang stated that the executive order remained in force until when it was reviewed.

He also noted that the public continued to defy the stay-at-home order during the lockdown as heavy vehicular and human movements were being experienced in the state.

“The executive order by the governor remained; it has not been reviewed yet, we are going into a meeting to review the situation and make sure we don’t kill the economy.

“If I tell you that the lockdown would be removed totally I will be jumping the gun, if the governor says so, I am just a megaphone, I will relay the information to you.

“The lockdown is temporary, our human nature is such that we don’t want to be locked in one place, it is not deliberate that we want to keep people in one place.

“The lockdown is mandatory for our own good, it is all over the world, we should obey government’s order for out own good,” the commissioner said.

He advised the people to always wash their hands and maintain social distancing, stating that hand washing was a more effective way of self protection against the disease than the use of masks and sanitisers.

Mr Nick Fadugba, the Chairman of African Business Aviation Association (AFBAA), said the multiple entry points and the frequencies of foreign airlines had been a disadvantage to Nigerian airlines as opposed to the advantages the agreement was supposed to present.

“At the time the bilateral agreement was made, Nigerian airlines in play at the time were relatively new, and now to ensure the growth of the airlines, there’s a need to review the agreement to properly incorporate the airlines as the agreements do not favour the average Nigerian carrier.

“The multiple entry points have diluted the domestic market for the carriers,” he said.

Fadugba noted that there was need to overhaul the current business plans of the airlines with emphasis on unit cost, load factor and yield.

He said that for the airlines to rise above the current situation, there should be cooperation among airlines through joint training, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), spares pooling, joint operation, interlining and code-sharing.

According to Foster, the lack of capitalisation and the low propensity of Nigerians to fly has been a major issue.

“There is need to look into the factors frustrating the airlines business, one of which is the ticket prices. Multiple taxations should be removed to encourage airlines growth,” Foster said.

Foster, however, disagreed with the Nigerian government over social distancing on flights by reducing load factor to between 50 and 70 per cent.

She said the airlines were already in a dire situation when they were operating at full capacity and asking them to reduce the load capacity was another way of putting down airlines striving to get back on their feet post COVID-19.

Adeyemi, however, advised that in order to restart the aviation sector, it was necessary to restore public confidence in air travel, putting adequate health and safety measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while ensuring aviation essentials to jump start economies.

Gimblett advised that the government could restart the industry by providing direct financial support to passengers and cargo carriers, ensure relief on fees, charges and taxes, make forex available for technological innovations, while also engaging with the leasing and financial community.